He nodded wearily. It looked like he hadn’t slept in days. “I’m not going to be charged for any of the stuff that gets broken, am I?”
I patted him on the shoulder. “No, that’s not something you have to worry about.”
He nodded, looking relieved.
The door to his room opened and Pita stepped out. “It should be okay now,” she said. “I told him he really needs to stop harassing our guests, and that I’d stop talking to him if he didn’t behave.”
I nodded. Hopefully it would be enough. Being a vampire came with lots of nifty little tricks that all of us could do, but some vampires also possessed other talents that were unique to them. Paige could peek into the future every now and then, I could talk to animals, which is why I could understand my pet bat, and Pita could see ghosts. It was a rare talent and most ghosts were thrilled to find a non-ghost they could talk to. It usually made them very eager to stay on Pita’s good side. This one, however, was being stubborn.
Jasper looked at me and I nodded. “It should be okay now. Most ghosts don’t want to make Pita mad.”
He looked Pita up and down from head to toe, as if trying to figure out why a supernatural entity would be worried about upsetting her. He didn’t understand that eternity was a very long time, especially when you faced the prospect of only being able to talk to other ghosts.
Finally giving up on trying to figure Pita out, Jasper headed towards his room. “Thank you,” he said, before closing the door behind him.
“That’s the third incident with this guest,” Paige said. “Why doesn’t your ghost like him?”
“He’s not my ghost,” Pita replied. “And I don’t know why he doesn’t like Jasper. He just says Jasper is a funny little man that’s wrong.
“What does that mean?”
Pita shrugged. “You don’t know what it’s like to talk to a poltergeist. It’s like having a conversation with a storm, all wild and chaotic. I think I was lucky to get that much.
I sighed. “Right. Okay, I’m getting out of here before something else happens. I’ll see if I can find our lost helper and point him towards home.”
“If he’s not dead, kill him,” Paige called out as I headed down the stairs.
Chapter 5
I rode into town on my shiny, powder-blue Vespa scooter. As soon as we had moved here, Anthony had suggested spending a little money to get to know the locals, saying that spreading a little cash around locally was a fairly easy way of getting on everyone’s good side. It sounded like a good idea, and the Vespa called to me as soon as I saw it. What can I say? You spend a few decades confined to the night and you’ll welcome any chance to have the sun kiss your skin.
I nodded and waved at a couple of people that were out and about, passing Devil’s Brew Bar & Grill, Dante’s Jewelry (featuring the nine rings of Hell), and Bed, Bath, & Broomsticks. I couldn’t help but chuckle at some of the names, and I lived here. I couldn’t even imagine what visitors thought, although they must’ve liked it because haunted tours, weekend ghosthunters, and lovers of the supernatural never seemed to get tired of coming here. Paige and Granny griped about it constantly but I loved it… although I’d never tell them that.
I pulled into the parking lot of Broomhilda’s Little Plant Shop of Horrors. It was a cute name but there was nothing horrible about the woman’s plants. She had a natural green thumb. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see her make a dead stick bloom. She was that good.
The bell over the door rang as I entered and a slim brunette dressed from head-to-toe in green popped up from behind the counter like an overly-cute jack-in-the-box. Dirt was smeared on her face and clothes. “Hi, Penny. How ya doing?”
I walked up to the counter, saw pots and plants and tons of dirt scattered behind the counter. I held back a smile. I didn’t see the fun in crawling around in the dirt but I guess that was just me. “I’m fine. Just need to have some more flowers delivered to the Inn.”
She nodded, casting me a shy glance as she pulled up my information on her computer. “How’s my boyfriend doing?”
I chuckled. “Anthony is currently MIA and in danger of having my sisters skin him alive but I think he’ll live… and you’d have a better chance at actually making him your boyfriend if you asked him out.”
She gasped, eyes wide.
I smiled. “I know you’re shy… but so is he. Someone has to make the first move.”
She nodded, cheeks burning a fiery red, her eyes skimming across the computer screen. “So, you’re usual order is Queen of the Night tulips, Black Velvet petunias, and Black Pansies. Want to stick with that?”
I nodded. “The guests love those dark flowers. Might as well stick with what works.”
“I’ve also grown a fresh batch of Purple Basil. Goes great in vinaigrette. Would Pita be interested in adding it to her kitchen spices?”
“New spices are like new toys to Pita. Add it.”
Broomhilda nodded, her fingers flying across the keys. “Done. I should be able to have them delivered later today.”
“Awesome,” I turned to leave, and then looked back at her. “Seriously, Anthony won’t make the first move. Ask him out.”
Her blush deepened. She waved and quickly disappeared back down behind the counter.
With fresh flowers ordered, I headed to the library. The vegetables, and dealing with her, could wait until after I jumped Anthony’s butt.
Ever since the town had embraced its haunted heritage, the library had been the most uninteresting destination to visit. The librarian, Mr. Sheldon, was an old stick-in-the-mud who refused to take part in the “frivolous waste of time and energy,” as he called it. So, in a town with a steakhouse called The Silver Stake and a law firm called Hell’s Gate, the library, with the very boring name of City Library, stood out like a sore thumb, which was why it was surprising to see a crowd in front of the place.
As I got closer, I noticed an ambulance hidden amongst the throng of people. The Factory of Blood and Gore – the local hospital – had exactly one ambulance, an old, renovated hearse that always reminded me of Ecto-1 every time I saw it. I was shocked that nobody had slapped a Ghostbusters decal on the door yet. Good thing Pita wasn’t here because she definitely would have. As I watched, the hearse/ambulance slowly pulled out, waiting for the crowd to make room. No lights. No siren. That was either a good sign or a bad sign, and I was leaning towards bad because you didn’t get a crowd like this because someone suffered a paper cut.
I parked at the far edge of the parking lot, looking for one vehicle in particular. It didn’t take long to spot the midnight-black SUV that seemed to dominate every other vehicle around it. We had gotten a few snide comments about killing the environment and wasting gas but sometimes a tough ride was needed. A Vespa just didn’t cut it when you had to deal with blood-thirsty demons or misguided vampire hunters who rudely thought my sisters and I were abominations against nature.
I strode through the parking lot, wondering how to best avoid the crowd, and then I looked through one of the large windows that lined the front of the library. Anthony was sitting in a comfy-looking recliner… but the worried look on his face suggested he wasn’t feeling very comfy at the moment.
I bit back a curse. I didn’t know what was going on but I suspected that I was going to miss my date… and I didn’t have Alec’s phone number because my brain had been too busy being turned into lust-filled mush to think about smart things like that.
And then I noticed something else about Anthony. He didn’t just look worried. He looked scared. He was white as a ghost, a haunted, vacant expression on his face. I had never seen him look so horrified before, and this was a guy who lived with vampires, a guy who had accidentally walked in on Granny Mags showering. He knew a thing or two about looking nightmares in the face and not flinching.
A closer look, provided by my handy-dandy enhanced vampire vision, revealed finger-shaped bruises around his neck. That wasn’t going to work for me at all.
&
nbsp; I nodded to myself and marched towards the wall of people, any plans for avoiding the crowd forgotten. Anyone who worked for the Dreadful sisters was under our protection. I didn’t know who had roughed him up, but I knew they’d regret it when I got my hands on them.
As discreetly as possible, I began moving people out of my way as I worked my way through the crowd. One particularly large plaid-wearing cowboy gave me a surprised look, probably wondering how a girl who looked to weigh maybe a hundred pounds had moved him to the side so easily, but everyone else was too focused on what was going on to pay much attention to me.
A uniformed deputy stood in front of the library door, thumbs hooked into his gun belt. A smart vampire was always aware of her surroundings, and I had done my research when we first moved to Transylvaniatown. Deputy Jack Pierce, twenty-two years old, and a bit overly fond of Hostess Twinkies. He was a good cop, judging from what others around town had to say about him. I flashed him my most dazzling smile, being careful to keep the fangs tucked away.
“Hi, Deputy Pierce. How are you doing this morning?”
He smiled back but caught himself and quickly went back to a neutral expression. He cleared his throat. “Sorry, ma’am, but this is a crime scene. You’ll have to step back.”
“No, Deputy, I’m sorry.” I looked deep into his eyes and gave a little mental push, making use of one those vampire talents I was talking about earlier. “That young man in there is my employee and you’re going to let me in so I can find out what’s going on.”
The deputy quickly stepped to the side and pulled the door open for me. “Of course, ma’am. Have a nice day.”
I ignored the grumbling and cursing from the crowd as the door closed behind me, Deputy Pierce resuming his post as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, our encounter already forgotten.
Anthony stared at me, a shocked expression on his face. “Penny, what are you doing here?”
“Getting your butt back to the Inn before Pita and Paige decide to find out what you taste like.”
He lunged up out of the chair and hugged me tight. I stood there, arms pinned to my side, wondering exactly what was going on. I wasn’t the hugging type, and he knew it. Something definitely had him freaked out.
“He’s not going anywhere, and just who the heck are you and how did you get in here?”
Anthony quickly released me and sank back down into the chair. I turned towards the voice behind me and sucked in a quick breath. Alec – or Sheriff Alec, judging from the star on his chest – stared at me, recognition flashing in his eyes. He smiled for just a second but quickly went back to looking serious and intimidating. “Hi, Penny. What brings you here?”
My eyes wandered up and down his body, taking in his new look, the way the uniform hugged him in all the right places. He had chosen to forego the conventional gun belt, going with an older style that let him wear his gun low, the holster strapped to a very solid-looking thigh. That, along with the sheriff’s star pinned on his shirt, made it easy to picture him roaming the Wild West, shooting bad guys at high noon and wooing dancehall girls as the moon hung high in the sky.
I blinked and looked back up into his eyes, my cheeks turning warm as I pictured myself as one of those dancehall girls. “Well… I was worrying about standing you up but I guess that’s no longer a problem.”
He dropped his gaze to the floor for just a second, but quickly looked back up. “I’m sorry about that. I was going to call but I didn’t have your number.”
I nodded. “I know the feeling. Sort of forgot to mention you were the new sheriff.”
He shrugged. “Didn’t come up.”
I replayed our first meeting in my mind. “Ah. Sheriff Hayes was the retiring boss.”
He nodded.
Well, this wasn’t great. Sheriff Hayes was an old, somewhat round fellow who liked things nice and neat. He didn’t go around looking for trouble. Sheriff Alec didn’t strike me as being that laid-back.
“You still haven’t told me how you got in here,” he said, as if determined to prove my point.
I sighed. The hottest guy in town and I was going to have to meddle with his mind. It wasn’t an exact science. Hopefully, after I was done messing with his head, he’d still remember that he liked me. Dammit. Sometimes, life wasn’t fair. I stared into his eyes, focusing my thoughts, nudging them towards him. “How I got in here doesn’t matter. You’re going to let me and my friend leave right now.”
His mouth quirked up into a crooked smile. “Oh, I am, am I?” He tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. “And just why would I do that?”
Crap! Maybe one person out of a thousand had the ability to ignore a vampire’s mental powers, and one of them just had to be the new sheriff. I smiled weakly at him. “Because you have a lot going on and we don’t want to be in your way?”
He laughed. “Well, that is very nice of you… but I’m not convinced yet that the two of you aren’t involved with what’s going on.”
“We’re not. Promise.”
Another laugh. “How do you know what you’re not involved in if you’re not involved?”
His tone was light, as if sharing a joke, but his eyes were serious. And very inquisitive. This was a man who did not enjoy playing cat and mouse… unless he was the cat. There were no questions without answers for him; merely questions with answers that had yet to be discovered.
I smiled. “Touché. To answer your question, this young man is my employee. He works for me and my sisters at The Dreadful Inn. When he wasn’t at work this morning, I became concerned… and judging from those bruises on his neck, there was a good reason to be.”
Anthony glanced up at me. “I’m fine. Better than Mr. Sheldon.”
Alec cleared his throat, frowning at Anthony.
“What happened to Mr. Sheldon?” I asked.
The sheriff just stared at me.
“This is a small town,” I said, exasperated, “Even if you or Anthony don’t tell me, chances are good that the news will be out before you even get back to your office.”
He sighed, looking out the window at the crowd. “Yeah, I’m learning there’s some truth to that old saying about no secrets in a small town.” He glanced back at me. “Mr. Sheldon was killed… and then Mr. Stevens was attacked.” He glanced back at Anthony. “But he doesn’t seem to recall what the attacker looked like, and he doesn’t know why he didn’t end up like Mr. Sheldon.”
Anthony shrugged. “He was wearing a ski mask, and like I said, I don’t know why he didn’t kill me. Maybe he heard a noise or something and thought someone was here.”
Alec stared hard at Anthony for a few more minutes, and then sighed, shaking his head. “I moved here for some peace and quiet, and then get a murder for my first case. Just great.” He looked at me. “You never did say how you got in here.”
Great. I had hoped he had forgotten about that. “I explained to your deputy that I was here to collect my employee. He told me I couldn’t come in… and then someone in the crowd acted up. While he was distracted, I slipped inside.”
He shook his head, irritated, and I hoped the deputy wouldn’t get in trouble because of me.
“So what happened to Mr. Sheldon?” I asked.
Alec shook his head, wearing his serious sheriff face. “I can’t stop your employee from telling you what he saw but you won’t be getting that information from me.
He looked back towards a taped-off section of the library. “You don’t really want to know.”
He gave his head a quick shake, as if to clear it of whatever image he was seeing, and then looked back at us.
He nodded towards Anthony. “He’s free to go, but I might have more questions later. The EMT says he’s fine, but he probably shouldn’t be driving for at least a few hours.”
Anthony sprang to his feet, obviously eager to leave.
“Sure,” I said. “Stop by any time… for questions… or whatever.” Oh yeah. Smooth. And my timing was oh so perfect, considering this was the
scene of a murder. I thanked Sheriff Alec for making sure Anthony was okay, and headed for the door, wondering exactly when I had lost the ability to speak intelligently with handsome men.
Chapter 6
After putting my Vespa in the back of the SUV, I slid in behind the wheel, looking over at Anthony in the passenger seat. “You really okay?”
He looked at me. I was glad to see he didn’t look quite as traumatized as he did earlier. “It was a vampire.”
I blinked, sure I had misheard him. “What?”
“The thing that killed Mr. Sheldon and attacked me. It was a vampire.”
I pointed out the window. “Couldn’t be. Sun’s up.”
“You’re here.”
I sighed and held up my right hand so he could see the gold-encased yellow stone on my second finger. The stone seemed to glow slightly, like a miniature sun, as it absorbed the light that was deadly to my kind. “Anthony, I have the ring. Without it, POOF!”
“Maybe there are other rings out there,” Anthony suggested.
I opened my mouth to shoot that idea down, and then closed it. As far as I knew, the jewelry me and my sisters had were the only pieces of enchanted sunstone still in existence, but the world was a very big place and it was possible – not likely but possible – that Daddy Drac wasn’t the only person still around who knew the spell.
Another question popped into my head. “Why did it let you live?”
He fidgeted in his seat. “You won’t believe me.”
“I’m a vampire who used to live in Transylvania; the real one. My father is Count Dracula and I have two vampire sisters. I’m pretty flexible with what I’ll believe.”
He reached into his shirt and pulled out a silver chain he wore around his neck, a tiny cross dangling from it. It took everything I had not to laugh. Crosses had zero power over vampires but Anthony had gotten the silly necklace to irritate Pita, holding it up like a vampire hunter in an old movie whenever she got on his nerves. It never failed to make her angry.
The Vampire and the Ink of Doom (Dreadful Vampire Mysteries Book 1) Page 3
